Jane Bond BBQ — Restaurant in Calgary

We went there for my husband and my daughter's boyfriend's birthday. My husband chose this place because they were having their Crawfish Fest. We tried to make a reservation about 2.5 weeks ahead but they were only taking walk ins. When we got to the restaurant a little before 5:30 they said they would be able to seat us but we could only have the table for roughly an hour because there was a reservation at 6:30, which was a surprise to us based on what we read. The food was ok. I would not drive across the city to go again. We ordered the Jane BBQ platter for 2 and the Crawfish platter. The ribs were a little dry and I expected it to be fall off the bone but they were not. My husband agrees that they were not cooked long enough. The Crawfish platter came out at 6:15, they apologized for the delay but we felt very rushed at this point. The corn was overcooked and mushy, it also had this really bitter tangy taste which I concluded that it came from sitting on top of the lemon too long and the rind of the lemon soaked into the corn. There wasn't a lot of crawfish, it was filled with lots of broken pieces. I've had crawfish many times and this was a disappointment. It was fishy and the broth was not very flavourful. The service started out great even though it felt rushed, we were happy they could accommodate us but as it got busier, we barely received any service. When we were seated, the server was super helpful in telling us about the menu and how everything worked. As the time wore on, the service was that of a fast food restaurant. What really turned this experience into a 1 ⭐ was that there were two birthdays at our table that explicitly told the server about at the beginning when we sat down and she made a note of it and asked what cake they wanted but they completely ignored that and we weren't even offered it to take home. When the bill came, the server said that there was an automatic gratuity, which I thought was strange for a party of 5 but what was also unexpected was that it was 20%. I have been to many restaurants and have never seen automatic gratuity for party less than six and never at 20%. It felt like the server knew that she dropped the ball and was trying to make sure she received a tip on a very expensive bill. We paid $282 for mediocre food with fast-food experience, might I add that it has a self serve beverage and sauce station which is perfectly fine but to be expecting 20% tip is a reach. If they kept the same service energy level from when we were seated, it would have had potential. I honestly wish they just told us they were full and turned us away when...

DO NOT EAT HERE! (I've never felt the need to say that before but read my full review below to understand why).

Food is ridiculously overpriced and low quality, franchises like Montanas have better quality.

Ordered from here to support a local business which seems to have been a big mistake.

Wait time was more than 90 minutes, food arrived COLD and everything tastes ovecooked. The meat is dry and bland (very common complaint amongst other reviewers).

For reference the Sasauge in photo is a $9 add on and the meal in the picture was $90+GST.

The $26 pie in the photo looks like something from a grocery store with a 300% markup. Not to mention is packed with salt to the extent that eating more than 1/2 a slice is inedible.

Called and spoke to a manager who confirmed the pricing would have been the same if we had ordered directly (kept a recording of the call too).

Very disappointed at this businesses perspective on quality and value.

Finally, the number of suspicious reviews makes me wonder if the owners of this businesses have paid for fake reviews to inflate their rating.

UPDATE In response to owners 'feedback': The tone of the response from the owner should be a clear indicator to anyone about what these "hard working entrepreneurs" think of their customers. Rather than using feedback to update their service and business they choose to write-off the feedback and be rude in return.

Doubt this?

Go through the feedback they've provided on previous reviews and see how 'coincidentally' every piece of customer feedback is dismissed while the owner makes passive aggressive comments. There are quite literally reviews that start with "I'm a bit hesitant to write a review because of how the owner chooses to respond to negative reviews"...

A few other excerpts from other reviews: "This place is owned and run by a con artist!!", "Terrible food and rude", "Terrible. Just terrible.", "Very disappointing experience!!", "Me and my daughter got food poisoning..."

Finally, claiming that previous reviews based on price somehow means that this complaint is invalid when anyone can clearly see that

I was driving around looking for something to grab for lunch today, and there were a ton of signs along Blackfoot pointing me to Jane Bond BBQ like some kind of sirens song. I had seen it on skipthedishes and always wanted to try it, so I decided to pop in. The staff was super friendly and helpful right off the bat, they made me feel welcome. I had to get my order to go as I had my 4 month old baby with me and didn't want to subject the other patrons to a crying infant, but I ate my meal right away in the parking lot so it was about as fresh as it could be. I got the 1/2 lbs of brisket and a small mac and cheese with a Mississippi mocha mud slice for dessert, I wish I had spent more time reading the menu because the combo 2 would have been cheaper and a better portion size for just myself, but that's 100% my own fault!

Ok, about the food...

Brisket - DELICIOUS!! I have been a loyal Big T's fan, but this brisket is better, sorry! So smoky and juicy with delicious rendered fat marbled throughout, it was so good even to go, I wonder how much better it would be dining in? The BBQ sauce it came with was yellow and unlike any sauce I've personally tried before, I think it was the Carolina? It was tangy and kinda mustardy and I enjoyed it, however I'd like to try the brisket with a more traditional red bbq sauce next time. I wasn't even able to finish it, SO MUCH MEAT! 🤤

Macaroni & Cheese - unfortunately this was a disappointment! I was so excited to try this, but the noodles were dry and devoid of any cheesy flavor, the spices put on top dominated. I totally understand that this is the result of a pre packaged baked mac and cheese for takeout, but I would have happily waited 5 minutes for a fresh scoop from the kitchen. I would like to try this again in restaurant next time because it looks really good in other review pictures.

Mississippi mocha mud - Looks so good, crust is delish, is that crumbled coffee crisp on top? Yummy! Unfortunately, for me, the filling was a bit bitter and left an unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth which is really too bad! I love chocolate, mocha and coffee flavor, but this was not for me. I really wanna try the other pie flavors and that Peach trifle sounds amazing, kinda wish I grabbed that instead!

I plan to return and try again dining in with my husband, I called him to rave about the brisket and in my opinion...at a bbq joint, the meat is the star. In this case, the brisket outshined the other missteps, so it deserves a second chance. I will update my rating if the dine in experience ends up being better, which I...